Ruben Vardanian - Troika Dialog

[Boghos]

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Sberbank buys Troika Dialog in $1bn-plus deal

 

By Catherine Belton in Moscow

Published: March 11 2011 13:12 | Last updated: March 11 2011 13:12

Sberbank, the Russian state savings bank, has agreed to buy Troika Dialog, the privately owned investment bank, in a $1bn-plus deal that will extend the government’s reach into the country’s investment banking business.

 

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Lex: Russian banks - Feb-07

 

Russians prepare for listing spree in London - Jan-25

 

Sberbank chief hits at Russian tax-rise plans - Dec-14

 

Sberbank hints at foreign listing - Dec-01

 

The bank will buy a 63.6 per cent stake from a group of Troika shareholders led by Ruben Vardanian, its founder and chairman, who is to stay on as chief executive of Moscow’s oldest brokerage for three years by the terms of the deal.

 

It will also pay $372m to buy out the 36.4 per cent stake South Africa’s Standard Bank holds in Troika. The South African bank had stepped in to support its strategic partner Troika at the height of the 2008 financial crisis, swapping assets worth $300m for its stake.

 

The long-awaited deal is part of Sberbank’s attempt to emulate the success of VTB, its state banking rival, whose investment banking arm, VTB Capital, grew from nothing to become the country’s leader in equity and debt deals in only two years.

 

VTB Capital leapfrogged local players including Renaissance Capital and Troika, alongside big international banks such as Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan, as it benefited from the deep pockets and cachet of its state owner while competitors struggled during the crisis.

 

German Gref, Sberbank’s chief executive, told reporters on Friday that he expected the bank’s acquisition of Troika to give Sberbank a market-leading position by 2014.

 

“This is a very ambitious plan,” said Mr Gref, who will serve as chairman of Troika’s board of directors. “This deal is logical for Sberbank and Troika Dialog – and it will create new growth potential.”

 

Mr Vardanian told the Financial Times that Troika would gain access to Sberbank’s large roster of corporate clients and its balance sheet to allow it to offer structured products, asset management and project finance and to build a stronger presence in investment banking. Sberbank would also be able to access Troika’s international clients as it seeks to become a global player. Standard Bank would remain a strategic partner for deals in Africa, he said.

 

Mr Gref said the deal is expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2011. Terms would be finalised in this year’s second quarter. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank by assets, is also part of the government’s privatisation programme, with the sale of a 7.6 per cent stake in the bank expected to be offered this year.

[Arpa]

I didn't understand even one word of the above

Boghos, are you speaking narnjeren,portugaleren/portugese?

Odly enough. Some Arabs calle that fruit "brtqan" as there is neither P or G in their script.

Edited March 15, 2011 by Arpa